Italian court overturned racial hatred case

On June 30, 2008, the Italian Court of Cassation overturned the convictions of six Italian men for their distribution of anti-Roma literature. The court based its decision on the finding that the men's actions did not stem from racial hatred, but from the belief that all Roma are thieves. There was suspicion that the ruling was handed down in an attempt to support the government's plan to fingerprint the entire Roma population with the reasoning that it would reduce crime and keep Roma children in school, which drew objections from Roma advocacy groups, human rights groups and the European Union (EU).